Look
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| Look, in the "Kokusan kamera no erabikata" (國産カメラの選び方) ARS, 1949. P.155. (Image rights) |
The Look is a 35mm rangefinder camera made in Japan for a short time in the late 1940s. It has the general look of a Leica, but differs in some features.[1] Most noticeably, the rangefinder is coupled by direct gearing; teeth on the periphery of the lens barrel meshed via an intermediate wheel with teeth on the front lens of the rangefinder.
The rangefinder is in a superstructure on the top housing, and has a separate eyepiece from the viewfinder. There is a hot shoe on the top. The winding knob, with mechanical frame-counter, is like that of a Leica, and the camera loads by removing the bottom plate. The example seen at auction differs slightly from the one illustrated here. The lens, apparently fixed, is a 45mm f/3.5 Lunar (not a 50mm as offered in the illustration), stopping down to f/16. Both the focus and aperture scales are engraved on the bottom of the lens barrel and mount. The shutter speed is set with a knob on the front, like the slow-speed control on some Leicas, but to the left of the lens. Whereas the illustration here offers shutter speeds between 1/10 and 1/200 second, the auction example cited appears to have speeds between 1/2 and 1/150 second.
There is a circular cover in the back, whose purpose is unclear. As almost any Japanese camera of its time, it has MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN engraved, on the bottom plate in this case.
Notes
- ↑ Look 'Model A', serial no.1399, sold at the 31st Westlicht Photographica Auction, in June 2017.
Bibliography
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 3359.
- SAKURAI Minoru (櫻井實) "Kokusan kamera no erabikata" (國産カメラの選び方; 'How to choose a domestic camera') ARS, 1949. P.155.
Links
In English:
- The Look is mentioned in a page about the Elega-35 in Nekosan's website (archived)
In Japanese:
